Advancement of the Professions Committee

The role of the Advancement of the Professions Committee is to co-ordinate and develop those streams of activity that help to advance the veterinary and veterinary nursing professions, and which are underpinned by our Royal Charter.

Members

Mrs Belinda Andrews-Jones RVN - VN Council Chair, Chair of Innovation
Ms Amanda Boag FRVCS - Chair of Board of Trustees, RCVS Knowledge (Observer)
Dr Melissa Donald MRCVS - Senior Vice-President (Observer)
Dr Louise Allum - RCVS Council Member
Dr Tshidi Gardiner MRCVS - Diversity & Inclusion Working Group Chair, and Lead for Global Development
Dr Chris Tufnell FRCVS - Chair of RCVS Fellowship Board
Ms Lizzie Lockett - RCVS CEO & Vet Futures Project Board
Dr Susan Paterson FRCVS - RCVS President, Council Lead for Environment and Sustainability, Lead for Leadership & Chair of the Advancement of the Professions Committee
Mr Matthew Rendle RVN - VN Futures Project Board
Dr Kate Richards MRCVS - Chair of Mind Matters Initiative
Mr John Mark Castle - RCVS Lay Council member

Contact

Committee Secretary: E Advancement@rcvs.org.uk

Meetings

To view the agenda and papers for recent meetings, please click on the following dates:

Terms of reference

The Advancement of the Professions Committee will oversee work that is non-statutory in nature and contributes broadly to the advancement of the veterinary and/or veterinary nursing professions.

Such activity includes, but is not limited to, leadership, innovation, mental health (Mind Matters), the Fellowship, international strategy, Vet Futures, VN Futures and other workstreams to be defined by Council.

This will exclude work that is non-statutory but sufficiently covered by existing standing committees, such as postgraduate education.

The Committee will comprise the chairs of relevant working parties or taskforces, or appropriate Council member champions, together with four other members of Council (chair, lay member, veterinary surgeon, veterinary nurse), together with relevant members of the Senior Team. Other Committee members may be co-opted if necessary. RCVS Knowledge, an independent charity, will contribute by means of its Chair of Trustees who will be an invited observer. Although they each have responsibility for individual projects or areas of work, they will review and input across all areas, with collective responsibility.

The Committee will usually meet four times per annum.

The Committee will:

Take regular reports from the leads on these areas of work and consider the ongoing effectiveness of the work against agreed strategy, timing and resourcing, making recommendations for changes, where appropriate. Consider any additional budgetary impact of these workstreams, which would then be escalated via the Financial Controls process;
Ensure that potential synergies between the various projects and initiatives reporting into the Committee are identified and exploited, and that opportunities for working collaboratively to maximise the impact of workstreams is explored;
Provide a forum for in-depth consideration of the issues surrounding or arising from the projects and initiatives that report into the Committee;
Provide a forum for blue-sky thinking to support the identification and development of new non-statutory projects which would serve to advance the professions;
Flag up any issues of concern to the Audit and Risk Committee, via the Risk Register, particularly in terms of financial, reputational or legal risks associated with the project and initiatives reporting to the Committee;
Make recommendations to Council for any new streams of work which may be appropriate under our Royal Charter; and
Make a report to Council on a regular basis summarising the work that comes under its purview.